Draco's Slave
by simplepen
Summary: Head girl Hermione and Ron enter 7th year as a couple and gets caught by Draco on the first night doing intimate things in the Head's wing. Using the situation to his advantage Draco strikes a bargian with Hermione and unexpected things begin to happen.
1. Chapter 1

none of these characters are mine! enjoy and review plz :)

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Draco smirked.

If stares could kill, Draco would be dead ten times. However, that didn't seem to faze him and he stood his ground, arms crossed, eyes glistening with amusement and malice, and lips set in that oh-so-familiar smirk that Hermione wanted nothing more than to rip right off his face.

"What do you say, mudblood? Deal?" Draco hissed.

"On one condition," Hermione replied firmly. "You have to stop calling me that name."

"Hermione you don't actually plan on doing this!" Ron cried out from behind her, eyes wide with shock. His shoes lay strewn across the floor, his socks were missing, shirt hastily tucked into his pants, his hair could give Harry's messy locks a run for its money, and his face could put the redness of his hair in second place.

"'Mione you can't!" He exclaimed again.

Hermione dismissed the comments angrily with a wave of her hand; Draco had her attention fully.

"You're not in the position to bargain. Either you take the offer as it is, or you and your little weasel boyfriend can suffer the consequences of your actions..in detention."

Hermione bit her lip. If she and Ron were to get detention, she would immediately be disqualified from the running to be Student of the Year and the chance for a summer internship at the Ministry of Magic. This was the first year Hogwarts had an award for best student, and Hermione wanted to be the first student to obtain such a title. Also, this being her last year, an internship at the Ministry could be her ticket in. As for Ron, he would not be allowed to play in the upcoming Quidditch match against the Hufflepuffs if he landed detention.

However, the alternative was just as bad, if not worse. Hermione supposed this was her punishment for acting so recklessly and giving into her needs. Her alternative consequence for sneaking Ron into her bedroom in the Heads wing and being walked in by Draco was to be his slave until graduation.

Now, as if having Draco see her and Ron giving into puppy love hormones was not bad enough; being given this unfair choice of path, Hermione sighed. She had no choice but to accept Dracos offer, regardless the fact that being his slave constituted doing whatever he wanted her to, whether it was doing his assignment, giving him a backrub, or fetching his meals, Hermione had to do so without objection.

Reluctantly, Hermione nodded. "Fine. Ill do it."

Draco grinned evilly. "I thought you would choose the smarter path. Detention and not getting that stupid trophy would have been ten times better than what I have in store for you."

"Shut up, Malfoy, you good for nothi-" Hermione fired back.

"Ah ah ah! The first rule is respect." Draco said, glaring down at Hermione.

"Respect ?!" Hermione shrieked. "You want to talk about RESPECT?! How about calling me mudblood all the time? How about treating all muggleborns as nothing more than pond scum! How about parading around school acting like you'r-"

Draco grabbed one of Hermione's madly flailing arms tightly and pulled her close. "Don't even think about talking to me like that again. You're treading dangerous water, _mudblood._ "Draco growled with emphasis on mudblood. Hermione tried to free her arm but Draco's hand held her still. "And you swam just a little too far in."

With that, Draco dropped Hermione's arm and left the room, making sure to mutter "Weasel" as he walked by Ron. Standing in the open doorway, Draco turned back and said, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Smirking evilly, he disappeared down the stairs.

"I can't believe you agreed to that!"

Hermione turned towards Ron's voice.

"I didn't really have a choice, did I?" Hermione shot back, eyes flaring with fire. "If only we would've waited we wouldn't even be in this mess to start with! I wouldn't have to be that ignorant ferret's slave for the year and.." As Hermione thought more and more about having to abide by Draco's every command the more she felt as if this year could not have come to an end faster, and considering that this was only the first night back at Hogwarts, Hermione felt a sense of hopelessness overtake her and before she knew it, tears were streaming down her cheek.

"Oh Hermione," Ron said, walking towards her.

"And, having him walk in on us together like that, in such an intimate setting..it..it was so humiliating!" Hermione sobbed, rushing into Ron's arms.

This was going to be a long year.

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the story is a little slow to start but itll pick up!


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing is mine, just the plot :)

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**HERMIONE**

Hermione tossed and turned in her bed; something just didn't feel right. She felt as if a cold hand was grabbing her throat, trying to choke her but when her flailing hands grabbed her throat, there was nothing there. She felt as if millions of insects were crawling over her body but when she swatted at her body wildly she only came in contact with her own skin. However, the worst part was the mocking. Hermione swore that she could hear a voice in the back of her mind laughing and taunting, "mudblood! Mublood! MUDBLOOD!"

Hermione jolted awake and sat up in her head, quickly throwing her blanket off her body to check for insects and feeling her throat, relieved that both the insects and the hands were gone. Gratefully, Hermione fell back into her bed, barely dosing off to sleep when she heard it.

"MUDBLOOD!!"

Hermione sat up again frantically, looking around to see if her roommates had heard the voice too, but strangely, they laid sound asleep, snoring lightly.

"MUDBLOOD! I SAID COME HERE!"

Placing one shaky foot in front of the other, Hermione stepped out of her bed, grabbing a bathrobe in the process and began walking towards the source of the noise. It wasn't something done voluntarily, Hermione's legs acted on their own, racing across the room, out the door and down the steps.

Again Hermione heard it.

"MUDBLOOD! MUDBLOOD! MUDBLOOD!"

Hermione stumbled down the stairs, unable to keep up with the speed of her legs which were moving quicker now. Hermione grabbed onto nearby objects such as couches, tables, and chairs to stop herself from leaving the Griffindor Common Room. She couldn't quite comprehend with why her legs would not listen to her mind which was screaming for them to stop! Again and again, Hermione heard his voice, dripping with evil and cruelty crying out, "MUDBLOOD! MUDBLOOD! MUDBLOOD!"

Before she knew it, Hermione's legs were bolting out of the Griffindor Common room, down the halls of Hogwarts which were eerily silent, and down to the dungeons. Finally, Hermione found her voice and screamed, "NO!"

"No! No! No! No!" Hermione screamed hysterically, trying to do everything in her power to stop herself from entering the Slytherin Dungeons.

"No! No!" Hermione shrieked again, throwing her arms out, hitting something in the dark."

"Ow! What the hell, Hermione!"

"No! No!" Hermione kept yelling, grabbing a hold of the thing she had hit earlier in hopes that it could stop her legs from going into the Dungeons.

"Stop that! Let go!" Another voice cried out, trying to squirm its way out of Hermione's iron grasp. "What's wrong with you!"

Hermione felt someone grab her shoulders and shake her. "Wake up! Bloody Mary, what is going on with her?" Someone asked.

Hermione suddenly felt something hard hit the side of her head, "ouch!" she cried out groggily, reaching up to rub the side of her head.

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake!"

Hermione looked around; she was in her room, lying in her head with her blankets twisted around her body like a cocoon, drenched in sweat. Ron was hovering over her bed, grabbing one of her hands in his own.

"Sorry I had to hit you, but you wouldn't wake up! You must have had an awful dream, you were screaming like giant spiders were running after you...well not giant spiders I suppose, since you're not scared of spiders. If it was my nightmare it would be spiders... I guess for you it would have been a giant essay with a B on it! Can you imagine—"

Hermione nodded and smiled weakly and closed her eyes, tuning Ron's babbling out. It was a nightmare, she took a few deep breathes to calm herself. It was just a nightmare, but Hermione could still that cold, malicious voice in the back of her head crying out that foul, dirty word and she shuddered.

"Oh, are you cold? Here," Ron took off his sweater and placed it over Hermione's shoulders. "Better?"

"Yes.. thanks." Hermione muttered, barely aware of Ron's presence until now. "I didn't wake anybody else up, did I? Why are you even here?" A look of hurt sprang across Ron's face and Hermione cleared her throat, "I mean like here, in my dorm room. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

A hint of laughter appeared in Ron's eyes. "'Mione.. it's past noon already, you slept in the whole-"

"What!" Hermione sprang out of bed, "It's already past noon!? And you JUST thought to come up here to wake me up? I missed the whole morning, Ronald! I am the Head Girl I can't go around missing classes like this, I have to set an example! Why didn't you realize I was missing earlier and come wake me!" Hermione snapped, while throwing on her uniform.

"You're welcome," Ron huffed, "For coming to wake you up at all! I thought you were just upset about what happened last night and wanted some time to yourself, how was I supposed to know-"

"Because you're my boyfriend! You are supposed to know me and know that no matter what, my education will always come first. I can't believe you Ron!" Hermione cried, gathering the last of her textbooks and flew out of her dorm, slamming the door behind her without a second glance at Ron, who stood there, dumbfounded and enraged by what just happened.

Hermione rushed to her next class, smiling and waving half-heartedly at the younger students who looked at her strangely and she rushed by. Glancing at her wristwatch, Hermione quickened her pace to the dungeons for her Potions class, barging through the doors only a fraction of a second before Snape did and grabbed the nearest seat she could find.

"Welcome," Professor Snape drawled, sweeping his eyes across the room, trying to push fear into every set of eyes he could come in contact with. "Who can tell me what...."

Hermione fidgeted in her seat. She just couldn't focus, not when she could feel his eyes searing holes into the back of her head.

"Miss... Granger?" Snape asked, knowing clearly that she did not hear his question.

"I.. I'm sorry Professor, I don't know." Hermione stuttered, horrified at having to embarrass herself like that. She heard a few snickers coming from the Slyntherin side and shot them a glare before she turned her attention to the front of the class.

"Well, well" Snape smirked, "To think Miss Granger doesn't even know the answer to such a basic question..Mr. Malfoy? Do you think you can put an end to Miss Granger's embarrassment and answer the question for her?"

"Yes, Professor Snape, the answer is banglesprout."

The rest of the class passed by slowly and painfully, the only thing keeping Hermione going was the thought that Potions was the last class of the day. As soon as class ended, Hermione bolted out the door, hoping to get back to her dorm without having to talk to Harry but as she rounded the corner, not watching at all where she was going, Hermione rammed full force into someone, sending their books onto the floor, scattering their neatly handwritten notes and a bottle of ink which splattered onto Hermione's robes, the stranger's notes, and their clothing.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Hermione scattered to gather the textbooks and paper off the floor, mentally scolding herself for being so careless. "Really, I'm not usually this clumsy-"

"Are you sure about that?" The person asked, "mudblood."

Hermione sucked in her breath and tried not to scream out loud. Of all the people in Hogwarts, why, why, why did she have to run into the most arrogant, ignorant, obnoxious, foul, cruel person, the person whose order she now had to obey without a second thought!

Acting boldly, Hermione dropped whatever books she had in her hands to stood up to glare into Draco Malfoy's face.

"I take that back, I am so very not sorry that I bumped into you at all. Why don't you get your slaves there to pick your books up?" Hermione spat, referring to Crabbe and Gloyle standing behind Draco like his two pets and with a look of disgust, Hermione turned around and changed course so that she could go to the Great Hall instead.

"I think, mudblood," Draco Malfoy smirked, "you forgot that you are my slave now, so you can pick up my books."

Hermione whirled around, her face red and eyes burning.

"While you're at it, rewrite my notes too. I don't like to have them dirty, not that you would know the difference, mudblood." As Draco said this, he stepped closer to Hermione, and purposely kicked the bottle of ink lying on the floor so that it would spill over more of his notes.

"You can bring them to me after dinner and then you can wash my clothes."

Hermione's nostrils flared. "Why you piece of scum! If you think-"

"You spilled ink over my uniform. This shirt is very expensive; I won't let it go to ruins."

"Your shirt is a part of your uniform, we all wear the same ones, they are not that expensive, Malfoy." Hermione retorted but Draco only laughed.

"Just do as I say." Draco muttered as he walked past Hermione.

Hermione waited until Draco was out of sight before she bent down reluctantly, picking up the textbooks and notes, shaking off as much ink as possible from the parchments. Sighing heavily, Hermione rushed off to the Griffindor Common Room, she'd rather be there at the moment, than be in her own dorm with the risk of having to come face to face with Malfoy again.

Hermione was thankful to find the Common Room empty; everyone was outside, soaking up what was left of the autumn warmth and sun before it got too cold to be outside for long.

Plopping down on a couch, Hermione conjured up a cloth and began wiping away the ink spills on the textbook covers and used a spell to get rid of whatever stains were left behind. Hermione wiped down the notes as well, then used the same spell so that the notes were back to perfect. Smirking to herself, Hermione set Malfoy's stuff aside. He just didn't give her enough credit. Did he think that Hermione wouldn't know some sort of spell of clean stains off of notes? After all, she was best friends with Ron Weasley and Harry Potter..

But suddenly Draco's words replayed in her mind.

_"While you're at it, rewrite my notes too."_

Hermione groaned and swore out loud. Glancing at her wristwatch, Hermione quickly found some parchment and began writing. She had less than two hours until dinner, and judging by the huge pile of notes that had stains on them, Hermione would need all the time she could get.

**DRACO**

"Stupid mudblood," Draco muttered as he unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it onto the floor of his room in the dorm specifically designed for Head boy and girl. Draco wasn't joking, that really was an expensive shirt. Of course, one couldn't expect the Malfoy's to wear the same cheap quality shirt that came with the uniform.

Draco stepped into the bathroom which was covered with soft green plush carpeting that resembled grass and turned on the shower head, letting the water run until the mirrors began to fog. The walls were a paler shade of green with silver vines and snakes that ran up and down the walls, growing and moving ever so slightly. The roof was equally as elaborate as it was ornamented with silver and dark green snakes, this time frozen into the roof so that they were not moving. The mirror itself looked like an antique; the bathroom was so beautifully decorated it was absolutely breathtaking.

When Draco could no longer see his reflection in the mirror, he stripped himself of the rest of his clothing and stepped into the shower. The hot water ran from his hair down to his toes, making him wince as it burned some cuts on his torso. The one on his left shoulder hurt exceptionally so Draco reached up to massage it, shuddering in the steaming shower at the memory of how it got there.

After what seemed like hours, Draco stepped out of the shower and changed into a pair of black dress pants and a green silk button up shirt with a gray cashmere sweater over stop. Since classes were over, students no longer had to dress in Hogwarts uniforms- a new rule Dumbledore decided upon this year. It didn't matter much to Draco, but it was a little less of a pain having to carry multiple sets of robes that resembled the Hogwarts uniform so significantly that hardly anyone would notice the difference so that he wouldn't have to wear the same thing day after day. Besides, his own clothes were much more comfortable.

Checking the time on the old grandfather clock by his dresser, Draco stepped into his shoes and left for the Great Hall, it was dinner time.

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Sorry I didn't update for soooo long!! I think most of you have probably forgotten me but here is the second chapter i hope you enjoyed it! please give me some feedback that would be lovely :)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Hermione took a deep breath and walked over to the Griffindor table, grabbing a seat beside Ron and Lavender. Harry and Ginny were nowhere to be found, Hermione laughed to herself. They were probably trying to get some time to themselves.

It was such a relief to see Ron, Hermione was feeling unbelievably stressed and even though they had fought earlier, she always felt a degree of comfort being around Ron, no matter the circumstances.

"Hi," Ron said between mouthfuls, swallowing quickly before leaning over to peak Hermione on the cheek. "You look pretty."

And it was true. Hermione looked simply radiant in a rosy pink sweater, brown cardigan, and slim fitting jeans. It was the simplest outfit, yet Hermione made it look like something that cost a million dollars.

Yet Hermione blushed, after all this time, she still could not get used to being called pretty- even by Ron.

"I'm really sorry," Hermione started, "I shouldn't have gone off on you like that this morning. It wasn't even your fault I just-"

"It's ok," Ron interrupted, wearing a goofy grin on his face he always had on when a fight between the two of them was resolved. Truthfully, most of their arguments ended this way- with Hermione apologizing for blowing up on him for something that really wasn't his fault (much like this morning), and Ron eagerly accepting her apology. Ron wasn't really the type of guy to really tune into a girl's feelings and know what to say, how to act when they were upset, and most of all, he did not know how to handle tears. Growing up in a family with only 2 girls, both of whom were exceptionally strong emotionally, he's never had much experience handling a teary crisis before. Thankfully, Hermione wasn't much of a crier. "Are you ok, though?"

"Yeah.." Hermione muttered as Ron leaned in for a kiss. "I am now," she smiled. "It's just this whole...slavery thing." Hermione scowled, "It's driving me insane."

Ron imitated her scowl, "well if that git does anything, and I mean anything Hermione just tell me and I will curse him like there's no tomorrow."

Hermione giggled, "Oh, really? Well that's a lot of talk..." Reaching over to lightly hold Ron's hand. "Are you sure you'll be able to follow through?" Hermione asked playfully.

"Well we'll just have to wait and see then, won't we?" Ron leaned in for another kiss. "Besides, if I can't curse him like there's no tomorrow then I'll beat him with my own hands."

Hermione giggled against his lips again.

"What?" Ron whined, "I'm strong enough...strong enough to pick you up and throw you over my shoulder and-"

"Guys, get a room will you? Some of us want to keep down our dinner!" A familiar voice said above their heads.

Ron and Hermione quickly straightened up. Ron grabbed his fork hastily and began shoving food into his mouth again, his hair almost a red as his hair. Hermione smoothed out her shirt and flattened her hair, smiling embarrassingly. "Hi, Harry, Ginny."

Ginny and Harry sat down across from Hermione and Ron, locked at the hips, both smiling from ear to ear. Even a blind person would be able to see how happy these individuals made each other and how in love they were.

"You two have really got to cool it down in there!" Ginny joked, "At this rate everyone will become malnourished for not being to keep down their dinner."

"Yeah well," Ron retorted between bites, "that goes for the two of you too."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at Ron and leaned over to kiss Harry, then turning to grin cheekily at her brother again.

Rolling his eyes, Ron returned his attention to Hermione.

"I missed you after class today; you just ran off, I went looking for you. Where were you?" Ron questioned, reaching over to play with Hermione's hair.

Swallowing quick, Hermione replied, "I had to do some things for that scum. He made me recopy all of his notes just because some ink spilled on it! It's absolutely ridiculous, he has hands too you know, and there is such a simple spell for cleaning up ink and stuff from parchment, it's just –"

"I'll do it Hermione, I'll curse him till there's no more curses left!" Ron growled angrily, "then I'll just use my hands and-"

"And what, Weasel?" A voice drawled behind Ron and Hermione.

Groaning inwardly, Hermione and Ron turned around to face Draco Malfoy. Standing there, looming over the two of them, with white blonde hair falling over steel gray eyes, he struck both fear and awe in Hermione and Ron.

However, Ron snapped out of it quicker than Hermione and stood up, glaring at up at Draco Malfoy, who stood almost half a head taller, and spat out, "if you try anything funny, ferret, I swear I'll make you pay."

As Ron finished his sentence, that traditional, annoying, smirk with a hint of cruelty crawled upon Draco's face and with only a demeaning look towards Ron, turned to Hermione, and said with even more venom dripping from his voice than earlier.

"Get up."

Hermione looked taken back. "Excuse me?"

"Do you understand simple, English words, Mudblood?"

"Alright-" Ron moved forward and shoved Draco. "Stop. Calling. Her. That!"

Once again, Draco simply ignored Ron and beckoned Hermione again.

"Do you know something called manners? You could certainly inquire some!" Hermione shot back, standing up angrily and grabbing her book bag.

Draco's eyes narrowed. "Yes," he hissed. "I know exactly what manners are, I just don't see the point in wasting them on someone like you."

Once again, Ron growled angrily, pushing up his sleeves and started towards Draco.

"Oh, please." Draco said. "Spare me the dramatics."

Sighing, Hermione went on her tip toes and kissed Ron on the cheek. "It's ok. I'll be back later."

With a heated glare at Draco, Hermione reluctantly followed him as he walked out of the Great Hall without looking back.

Having to run to keep up with Draco's long strides, Hermione's already overstuffed bookbag slipped constantly off her shoulder with some of Draco's notes falling on the ground ever so often.

"Can you slow down a bit? Not all of us are giants." Hermione cried breathlessly as she bent down to grab the pieces of parchment on the floor.

"We're here anyways."

"Is...is this the Slytherin Common Room?" Hermione stuttered. Her legs felt numb and her feet felt like they were nailed to the ground.

"Yes," Draco snapped, "Where else would I keep my collection of dirtied shirts?"

"I don't... I don't want to go in there." Hermione gulped, "I can't go in there." Fragment of last night's dream sprang into motion in her mind. "I can't."

"Oh relax," Draco muttered, tapping randomly on the stone bricks beside the portrait. "Everyone's still eating."

Those words did nothing to calm Hermione's inner storm; in fact, it only fed the flame. The portrait flung open and Draco stuffed his wand back into his pocket.

"Either stay here and wait for the others to come back or get in here. This is the center of a labyrinth; you'll never find your way out without guidance. No spells can help you."

At those words, Hermione abruptly took a step into the Slytherin Common Room. Taking a look around, Hermione was pleasantly surprised. She had always pictured it to be an awfully sinister place and hearing the descriptions from Harry and Ron in second year only solidified her imaginations. However now that she was seeing it with her own eyes, Hermione could see that the emerald green carpeting complimented the black leather couches and the golden snake statues situated here and there added a hint of sophistication.

"Look, Mudblood." Draco's temper rising, "I don't have all day."

With one last good look at the common room, Hermione rushed up the stairs after Draco.

Draco sat down on his bed and kicked off his shoes, eyeing Hermione from the corner of his eyes. She was standing awkwardly at the foot of his bed, her overloaded bookbag sliding down her arm.

"Give me my notes." Draco reached out his hand and hastily grabbed his notes from Hermione as she reached into her bag. Scanning over it quickly, Draco nodded satisfactorily, "Good enough I suppose, though I would have thought Hogwart's smartest witch would have neater writing."

Hermione's eyes narrowed at the insult but she bit her tongue to avoid saying anything back. She had had a long day and wanted nothing more than to go cuddle with Ron and fall asleep in his arms.

Tossing the notes on the night table, Draco stood up and took off his cashmere sweater and began unbuttoning his shirt.

Hermione's eyes went wide. "What are you doing," Hermione hissed, "You can just ask me to leave you know."

Draco chuckled, deep and mischievously, a glint of danger behind his unsmiling eyes, "Why would I do that?" Draco watched Hermione turn red at the sight of him with his shirt hanging open. It was something he was used to what with his 6"2 frame, platinum blonde hair, gray eyes, strong jaw and a grin that could melt any girl's heart if he so choose to do so. On top of that, Draco's chiselled body from Quidditch glistened from the moonlight streaming in from the dorm window and its beam on his well-defined six pack left Hermione heated, and slightly speechless.

"Pansy was supposed to come here tonight, but I think she's busy with Zabini," Draco tossed his shirt onto the bed and Hermione's breath caught in her throat. Even though she hated him more than anything, she could not help but admire his strong muscular arms and well-toned chest. How could someone look so perfect but be so evil? Hermione wondered to herself.

Once again, Draco sat down on the bed, but his time he patted the spot next to him. "Come here" He said huskily, sounding completely different from his usual arrogant, condescending self.

Hermione felt as if she was in a dream like trance, without even realizing what she was doing, Hermione shuffled over to the bed and sat down clumsily beside Draco. She sat there; breath caught in her throat, not exactly sure what she was waiting for. As repulsed as she was by Malfoy, she couldn't help but feel attracted to him while sitting here on his bed.

Hermione felt the weight on the bed shift and then she felt him leaning in towards her. Eyes fluttering to a close, Hermione could feel her heart hammering in her chest. She did not understand what was going on. She was so utterly in love with Ron, yet she wanted Draco, her most hated enemy, the person who makes her miserable everyday to touch her. She felt Draco come closer, but all of a sudden a shirt flew into Hermione's face, waking her up from her trance. Draco, who had tossed the shirt at Hermione stood up and slipped on a t-shirt. Smirking, he spoke, with venom back in his voice, "like I would ever touch you, mudblood. I don't touch dirty people, so keep your fantasies to yourself. That's the shirt you ruined this afternoon. I want it clean for tomorrow."

Flustered, red, humiliated and angry, Hermione shoved the shirt into her bookbag and stormed out of the boys' dormitory and down the stairs.

"Turn left and go up the stairs, that leads to the Great Hall. I'm sure you can find your way from there." Draco called from the dormitory.

"So much for a labyrinth," Hermione muttered to herself. "Stupid lying ferret."

Hermione continued to storm angrily from the Great Hall to the Griffindor Common Room.

"Are you ok?" Ron rushed to her side as soon as she stepped through the portrait. "What did that git do now? I swear one day I'm gonna-"

Hermione closed her eyes and tuned Ron out, redirecting all her energy to pushing the image of Draco under the moonlight out of her mind.

"Come on, 'Mione," Ron gently tugged at her hand and they headed towards the boys' dormitory. As soon as they were out of public eye, Ron leaned down to kiss Hermione. Placing one hand in her hair and one hand on the small of her back, Ron pulled Hermione closer and stumbled backwards until they both fell over the bed.

Laughing quietly, Hermione pulled free from Ron's grasp. Ron however rolled over Hermione and continued to kiss her forehead, cheek, and neck as his hand slid over her shirt to caress her smooth stomach. The other hand tugged at the buttons on Hermione's shirt until they popped open and Hermione withered out. Clad in her bra, Hermione kissed Ron back passionately; pulling on the edge of Ron's shirt until Ron hastily broke the kiss and tore it off. Hermione smiled and ran her hands over Ron's toned abs and pecks and suddenly thought of Draco's stone hard six-pack. She quickly shook the image out of her head and kissed Ron again in frenzy, desperately trying to drive her thoughts of an unwanted person out. Ron, who took this sudden burst of energy as Hermione wanting him, began to pull off her pants. As Hermione kicked off the constricting fabric, she fumbled with Ron's belt, and finally, with Ron's assistance, both belt and pants were both off.

"You are so beautiful, Hermione." Ron whispered, running a finger from her cheek to her collarbone, and then kissing her deeply. "I love you."

"I love you too, Ron". Hermione whispered back with her eyes closed, feeling Ron's lips explore her stomach. Unexpectedly, once again, Hermione saw Draco's strong hands exploring her body, touching her in her most intimate areas, and when Ron's hand slipped inside her underwear, Hermione thought of Draco's fingers entering her, Draco moaning and kissing her neck.

Ashamed at her thoughts, Hermione pushed Ron backwards so he was lying on the bed and sat herself between his legs. She would force Draco out of her mind no matter what. Hermione's soft mouth enveloped Ron's erection and her hands roamed around his body. I love Ron; Ron is the one I want. Hermione thought to herself as she kissed, licked and sucked, listening blissfully to Ron's moans of pleasure, and it finally worked. Hermione's mind was soon too occupied with Ron to think of anything else.

"Come here." Ron muttered lustily, pulling Hermione back up. With those two words, everything Hermione had built up to push Draco out of her mind crashed down. As she crawled over Ron to position herself on top of him, she thought of Draco patting the bed beside him.

"Oh Hermione.." Ron muttered, grabbing her hips as she buckled back and forth, but all Hermione could think of was Draco, imagining Draco under her instead of Ron. The more she thought the guiltier she felt, and the guiltier she felt the faster she went. It wasn't long before Ron lay panting with Hermione beside him.

After Hermione recited a contraceptive spell, Ron rolling on his side to look at Hermione. "I love you, you know that?" He smiled happily, but all Hermione could do was smile and pretend to be falling asleep.

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Sorry for the late update, I'll try to be a lot faster. Thanks for all the reviews, they really help a lot :).


	4. Chapter 4

_So sorry of the ridiculous amount of time I took to update but you know life, it just gets crazy with finals and jobs and all! Anyways, school is over now so the updates will be much faster and hopefully I haven't lost all my readers :(. Again, none of these characters are mine, they belong to the amazing J.K. Rowling and please please a review when you are done that would be GREATLY appreciated!_

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**DRACO**

Draco sat propped up on his bed, flipping through the notes that Hermione very neatly hand copied for him. Feeling satisfied, Draco tossed them on his night table and grabbed his robe, which was hanging off the end of his bed and headed for the bathroom. As he closed the door behind him, Draco suddenly noticed how remotely quiet it was in the Head's Wing when he passed by Hermione's room. Shuddering at the thought of the mudblood and weasel together, Draco slipped into the bathroom and dropped his robe, not bothering to shut the door behind him. Turning on the shower, Draco pulled off his shirt and examined his reflection in the mirror. He had had an extremely long day. Although nothing could fully mask his handsomeness, there were dark circles under his eyes that were not there in the morning and blood that had crusted around his hairline. His torso was bruised in some areas and cuts and welts had also begun to reveal themselves. Sighing, Draco stepped out of his boxers and into the shower, letting the hot water run down his body and wash away everything that had happened between the time Hermione left with his dirtied shirt until a few minutes ago.

**HERMIONE**

Ever so quietly, Hermione slipped out of bed and got dressed, all the while trying her hardest to not wake Ron. Placing one quick peck on his cheek, Hermione tip toed out of the boys' dormitories and headed down to the Griffindor Common Room. The big grandfather clock read 1 a.m. and yawning, Hermione rushed back to the Head's Wing, wanting nothing more than to lay in her own bed, by herself, and sort out all these confusing feelings she was having about Ron, the man she loved, and Malfoy, the man she was forced to live with for the remainder of the year, patrol the halls with, plan events with, but mainly, he was the man who was supposed to be her enemy, and the man whose orders she had to follow or else she would lose her chance at the award at the end of the year. Racing down the hallway, Hermione's mind was busy at work. No matter what she told herself of all the terrible things Malfoy had done to her over the past six years, try as she would, she could not push out the image of him sitting on his bed shirtless, with a smile and patting the spot next to him. However, there was a voice in the back of her mind, reprimanding her ugly thoughts and screaming the name Ron over and over again. A wave of guilt washed over her for thinking about Malfoy when she was with Ron and Hermione suddenly felt very dirty. Muttering the password as she reached the Head's Wing, Hermione who was still consumed in her thoughts, raced up the stairs and headed straight for the bathroom, wanting to shower and wash off any traces of Ron from her body in hopes of easing her guilt, if only by a little. Dropping her cloak in the hallway, Hermione began unbuttoning her blouse and stepped into the bathroom, then hastily kicked off her shoes and tore off her skirt. Completely consumed by the storm happening in her head, Hermione was oblivious to the second party in the bathroom until a cold, menacing voice broke her from her thoughts.

"What in the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

Startled, Hermione spun around to face none other than Draco Malfoy.

"I..I..I..didn't realize anyone was in here. The door was..open," Hermione stuttered, closing her shirt and reaching for her skirt.

"How could you not realize someone was in here?" Draco asked, narrowing his eyes, grabbing a smaller towel off the counter and scrubbing his wet hair with it. "The shower's still running. Don't tell me the mudblood genes are so filthy that your hearing is affected." Draco sneered.

"No, ferret," Hermione spat back, "I happen to have very important things on my mind. I'll come back later."

"Don't bother, I'm done anyways." Draco replied, grabbing his robe from the floor. Hermione noticed that once again, Malfoy was standing before her shirtless. Only this time, he was clad in a towel with water droplets glistening off his muscular body, and his hair falling freely over his eyes instead of gelled back as usual. Blushing ever so slightly Hermione nodded.

Draco slipped on his robe, not bothering to tie it up and as he brushed past her, Hermione's eyes fluttered over to his open robe and to her horror, she saw patches of blue and purple, cuts, and welts.

"Oh my god," Hermione cried out and grabbed Draco's elbow before she could even think about what she was doing or saying. "What in Merlin's name happened to you?"

Draco wrenched his arm away from Hermione's grip, "nothing of your concern," Draco tied his robe shut. "And I would appreciate it if you kept your hands to yourself. Your thoughts too, it's disgusting. You should learn how to hide your expressions more."

Deciding that at the moment, the broken torso of a man was more important than her annoyed ego, Hermione ignored the comment. "I can heal that in a minute. Just hold on a sec-"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Draco spat, "I don't need someone like you, a dirty little mudblood to do things for me. I can do it myself."

"Oh really," Hermione said smugly, holding her wand in one hand and crossing her arms across her chest, "If you don't need me doing things for you then why was I cleaning your shirt and recopying your notes for you?"

"Once again, I don't need you to fix me."

Ignoring his comment once more, Hermione marched out of the bathroom and returned a few minutes later with a thick heavy book that contained all sorts of spells to heal any kind of wound.

"Ok..." Hermione muttered as she flipped through the book. "This spell should do it." She pointed her wand at Draco and was about the recite the spell when she noticed that Draco's chest was smooth as marble and all signs of damage were gone.

"I told you I didn't need your help." And with that, Draco left Hermione standing in the bathroom by herself.

"Stupid git," Hermione muttered as she shut the door and stepped into the shower, completely forgetting about the crisis on her mind earlier.

**DRACO**

Draco tossed and turned in his bed, unable to sleep, the image of Hermione clad in her knickers, bra, knee high socks and open shirt kept flashing before his eyes. For a mudblood, she was pretty good looking. In reality, he really didn't have anything against muggleborns. It was his father that had an undying vendetta towards them and expected nothing less from his son. His terrifying Death Eater of a father struck fear into everybody he came across, including his son and his wife, who had no choice but to obey his every wish, because what Lucius wants, Lucius gets, even if through force and violence. Lucius Malfoy did not care for anything or anyone around him; his one and only goal was to please the Dark Lord and he was willing to give up anything to achieve that goal, even if it meant sacrificing his wife and only son.

For the past two years, Draco had refused to become a Death Eater like his father wanted, and because of that, suffered many beatings such as the one he had received earlier that evening. Hogwarts used to a place where Draco could escape his father's evil grasp, but ever since his father discovered the secret passageway that led from Hogwarts right to the Malfoy Manor, his grasp had tightened and stretched further than Draco would have wished.

Many times, Draco have tried to imagine what his life would be like if his father was truly a father who cared about his family and knew how to love, but try as he would, it was impossible for him to picture such a life as he had never been exposed to it.

The clock struck two and Draco was lying alone and awake with his thoughts. Finally feeling fed up, Draco moved his night table aside to reveal a tunnel that led to the kitchens of Hogwarts.

**HERMIONE**

Two in the morning and Hermione was also awake and alone in the common room, wrapped up in a fluffy bathrobe in the big, comfy armchair in front of the fireplace, absorbed in her own thoughts about her feelings about Ron, her developing desire for Draco, and the unrequited concern she felt when she saw all those wounds on Draco's body. What on earth could have happened to him? Hermione wondered.

"You're up too?"

Hermione turned around at the sound of the voice to see Draco walking down the staircase with a butterbeer in one hand and a plate of food in the other.

"Yeah, things on my mind," Hermione said softly and turned back to face the fire.

Taking a sip of his butterbeer, Draco walked softly over to the couch adjacent from Hermione's armchair and sat down, placing his feet up on the coffee table and putting down his drink. He was just about ready to take a bite of his pumpkin pie when Hermione sighed softly to herself.

Glancing up quickly, Draco noticed how the flames played on her skin and made her glow. Her honey brown eyes lit up and her lips looked rosy and irresistible.

"Want some?" Draco motioned at his pumpkin pie.

"Hmm?" Hermione glanced over, "Oh no, thanks."

Draco shrugged and took a big bite out of his pie, "Guud, yur mishing ot."

'Where did you get food at this hour anyways?" Hermione questioned, "the kitchens were closed hours ago."

"I've got my ways"

"Ok, secret keeper." Hermione chuckled, resting her elbow on the arm of the chair and placing her chin on her open palm.

"So, uhm," Draco cleared his throat. "What was on your mind earlier?" He looked at Hermione, his eyes kind and warm.

Surprised by the way Draco was looking at her, Hermione replied, "You mean what is still on my mind? It's so complicated, I came to Hogwarts this year determined to have the most wonderful year and instead two weeks in and I've already-" Hermione stopped herself there. "Since when do you care about the things on my mind?"

"I, uh-" Draco swallowed the remainder of his pie. "I don't." And the coldness and malice returned to his eyes.

"Of course you don't." Hermione muttered.

Draco wiped his hands on his pants, put his plate on the table and drained the rest of his butterbeer. "As if I would ever care for you." He added as he walked past Hermione. "Another thing, mudblood. Don't you tell a soul about what you saw earlier, in the bathroom."

"Or what?" Hermione snapped, annoyed by his sudden mood swing and her conflicting feelings about him.

"Or I'll tell your pauper, mudblood loving boyfriend how you've been lusting after me."

At this, Hermione's bottled up frustration and feelings rushed to the surface and she sprang up from her seat.

"How pretentious of you," Hermione said, narrowing her eyes at the tall blonde standing in front of her with that infamous smirk plastered across his face. "You think that every single girl in this school is attracted to you don't you? You think you're so great, that, that you can just go and threaten anyone you want?" With every word, Hermione's voice got louder and louder.

"You think that just because you're a pureblood that everyone else is beneath you, don't you? Well think again! EVERYBODY knows what kind of family the Malfoy's are-EVERYONE knows that your father wouldn't even think twice about-"

"ENOUGH!" Draco bellowed, his hands held tightly in a fist at his side, his lips pursed in a tight line and his eyes wild with fury as he stalked towards Hermione.

Frightened by Draco's expression, Hermione involuntarily took a step backwards.

"Remember that little deal we struck?" Draco whispered, standing so close to Hermione she could feel his breath on her nose.

"Yes."

"You do as I say, or you get detention and you lose any chance of that award. Got it?"

When he got no response, Draco grabbed her shoulder roughly and shook her. "I said, got it?"

Hermione nodded stiffly.

"Now you don't tell anyone about anything that happened tonight, or you will regret it. Is that understood?"

"Yes" Hermione gasped, desperately trying to keep her tears at bay.

"Good" Draco replied darkly and stalked upstairs, slamming the door of his room so loudly the sound resonated through the entire Head's Wing.

Overwhelmed by what just happened, Hermione fell into her chair and tried to figure out what just happened. One minute, he was nice and seemed to have change and the next, he was ferocious and back to his cruel, cold self.

**DRACO**

Up in his room, Draco slammed the door shut and kicked the legs of his bed, suppressing a scream that was just on the tip of his tongue. Throwing himself on his bed, Draco gripped his hair. What was the matter with him? For a minute there he actually wanted to know what was on the mudblood's mind. For a minute he actually wanted to have a conversation. Oh, if his father were ever to find out.. Draco shuddered at the thought. No. That could not happen. No, he would never slip again.. and if he did, he would make sure no one ever finds out about it.

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_Where there you go.. hopefully I didn't disappoint too much! The story will pick up from here, promise :)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Here we go! Chapter 5! It's super late but I really felt like writing it so please forgive me if there are typos._

_Again, thanks to ALL the people who have put me on their favorite author/story alerts/author alerts I appreciate it SO much and I would appreciate it that much more if you would just pop a review at the end as well! Thanks all 3 _

_Disclaimer: nothing is mine._

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Hermione awoke the next morning with her joints tied in a knot and her muscles all cramped up. She groaned as she pulled her legs out from under her and placed her feet on the floor, letting a blanket that she did not remember having when she fell asleep fall to the ground. Sleeping in the armchair was definitely not a good idea and Hermione decided then and there that she would never do such a thing again. Stretching her arms out before her, Hermione yawned; the sun was shining so brightly that some of its rays were peeping through the curtains of the common room. She thanked Merlin that it was the weekend because she was sure it was close to noon. Smoothing down the fabric of her skirt, Hermione headed upstairs; surely she looked like a mess.

**Draco**

Draco had tossed and turned all night due to terrible nightmares of his father floating in and out of his unconsciousness. Repeatedly he had seen his mother's tear stained face begging Lucius to stop and repeatedly, he had heard his father's emotionless voice commanding her to shut her mouth. Even though his wounds were healed, Draco's body still throbbed with pain. At the crack of dawn, Draco gave up on his last hope of having a peaceful night and got dressed. Grabbing a roll of parchment, Draco headed to the library to work on the paper Professor Sprout had assigned. Over the years, he found that academics were a very useful way of distracting him from his miserable life.

He headed downstairs quietly, not wanting to wake up Hermione. Since he didn't hear her come up stairs last night, he was pretty certain she was still in the common room. As Draco reached the bottom of the stairs, he noticed the air become cooler and cooler. It was nearing the end of September, and although the sun was still shining brightly, the weather had undoubtedly become colder with each passing day. The second floor of the Head's Wing had an enchantment to keep it warm regardless of the temperature outside, but unfortunately the spell did not stretch downstairs.

Draco reached for the blanket lying next to the fireplace which was now just ashes and placed it across Hermione's lap. He couldn't help but notice how angelic she looked. As he stood to leave, Draco ran this thumb along her jaw and brushed her bangs away from her eyes, tucking it behind her ear without even thinking and as he did so, Hermione sighed and shifted her position. Frightened that he had woken her, Draco rushed out of the portrait.

As he sat in the library, Draco's heart pounded. Why did he put that blanket on her? Why did he touch her face? Again and again, Draco asked himself those questions but could not come up with the answer. Before he knew it, it was past noon and Draco's frustration was building up. He had written nothing other than the title of the paper, had not gotten any books for research, and was so consumed in his own thoughts about a mudblood that he didn't even care about the paper. Whatever these feelings were, Draco knew he had to push them away, hide them, bury them before anyone ever found out, because if word got out that Draco Malfoy cared for a mulblood who knew what would-

"Drakey!"

Startled by the voice, Draco looked towards the sound and saw none other than Pansy Parkinson advancing his way.

Just what I needed. Draco thought. A little distraction.

"Oh Drakey I've been looking for you everywhere!" Pansy cooed as she sat down next to Draco. "Did you sleep well? Did the mudblood cause you any trouble?" Pansy giggled shrilly and loudly.

Draco winced inwardly. Usually, he had little tolerance of Pansy's ditzy and irritating behaviour. However, if there was one thing Pansy was good at, it was distracting Draco from whatever was bothering him at the moment.. which was exactly what he needed right now.

"I was up all night coming up with ways to make her miserable, Drakey, I-"

"That's great, Pansy. I'm going to Hogsmead, are you coming?" Draco gathered his belongings and walked away without even waiting for an answer, completely certain that she would follow, because Hogsmead only meant one thing to Pansy.

**Hermione**

After her shower, Hermione changed into a pair of dark blue jeans, a purple sweater and a brown jacket with a white cotton hat. On Saturdays, she usually accompanied Ron to Hogsmead; it was their usual one on one time. Only, instead of the usual flutter of butterflies Hermione used to feel, they were replaced by dread. She was still confused about her feelings for Ron, and after last night's drama and lack of sleep, she was not in the mood to cuddle and hold hands with Ron. However, being as she was, Hermione plastered on a smile and decided to leave those problems within the walls of Hogwarts for the day.

The Great Hall was vibrating with the sound of students laughing and talking while getting ready to head out to Hogsmead. Scanning the crowd, Hermione caught a glimpse of red hair and beelined in its direction. There stood Ron, talking to Harry in a hushed voice while Harry was looking after Ginny who had just walked away from the two of them. "Ron!" Herimione called out as she neared them. "Hi Harry" she smiled.

"Hi 'Mione!"

Hermione taped Ron on the shoulder from behind. "Ready to go?" However, Ron did not seem to hear her and kept standing with his back turned to Hermione.

"Anyone in there?" Hermione joked, tapping the side of Ron's head. Ron finally turned around with the most unpleasant expression on his face, causing the feeling of dread Hermione so decidedly wanted to leave behind for the day to resurface like a hideous sea monster.

"Wh-what's the matter?" Hermione stuttered.

"What's the matter?" Ron spat. "You should know. Where were you last night? I woke up in the morning and you were gone. Where did you go?"

Taken back, Hermione frowned. "I just went back to the Head's Wing, I couldn't sleep-Dean was snoring and-"

"Well you wouldn't have heard it anyways, right? I mean, considering we put up a silencing charm. You're a terrible liar Hermione."

"Why are you getting so angry?" Hermione questioned, "I just wanted to sleep in my own bed."

"Then why did you lie to me?" Ron asked, his anger slowly being replaced with hurt. "Don't think I don't know what's going on, ever since that dirty ferret caught us-"

Hermione's breath caught in her throat; surely Ron hadn't caught on about her conflicting emotions?

"You've been acting shady towards me. I know you blame me for what happened."

Relieved, Hermione cried out, "Ron! You know that's not true, I just-"

"Save it Hermione. Last night, even when we were together, you didn't seem as into it as usual. Why can't you just admit that you're mad at me?"

Hermione lowered her eyes and didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She wanted so desperately to tell Ron that she wasn't mad at him and that the reason behind all her actions lately was because she wasn't sure who she loved anymore, but Hermione knew that would hurt him more than anything.

"I'm going to go to Hogsmead with Harry and Ginny today. You can come find me when you're ready to talk." Ron muttered and pushed past Hermione without a second glance, leaving her standing there alone and humiliated with tears of shame threatening to push past her eyelids.

**Draco**

"I'm going to Hogsmead with Harry and Ginny today. You can come find me when you're ready to talk."

Draco watched from afar as Ron left Hermione by herself and rushed off to join Potty and his girlfriend. What an ass. Draco thought to himself. He would never leave a girl stranded like that-aside from Pansy, whom Draco considered an exception. She looked so sad and frustrated. Her usually beautiful face was red and she had one of her hands covering her face.

"Poor girl," Draco muttered. Feeling the urge to comfort her, Draco stood up from his seat and started towards her.

"Drakey! Where are you going?" within a split second, Pansy was at his side, gripping his arm tightly and batting her eyelashes. "Let's go, we don't want to be left beside with those people" She whispered, crinkling her nose towards the Griffindor table.

Draco wrenched his arm from Pansy's death grip and nodded briskly before lagging behind Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle. When he was sure that nobody was looking, Draco snuck a look backwards and saw Loony Lovegood patting Hermione's shoulder.

"Oh!" Pansy shrieked as the cold wind blew past her. "It's so cold now!" She pressed herself closer to Draco, who almost gagged at her overwhelming perfume.

He was beyond thankful as they approached the Three Broomsticks, where there was warmth, drinks, and bedrooms.

Pulling himself away from Pansy was like trying to wrench two magnets apart, and Draco soon learned that the only way to get rid of her was to sleep with her and then send her off with a little errand or two such as fetching him some food, or going to library to find him some books if they were in Hogwarts.

Since they were now all of age, Draco was delighted to find that filling Pansy up with a drink or two allowed him to have his way with her and then head right back to Hogwarts, as Madam Rosmerta would do room checks at the end of the night and send whoever was left back to Hogwarts through the floo network.

"Two fire whiskeys, Bart." Draco called out as he approached the bar; Pansy was already off to find an empty room upstairs. Watching her as she ran giddily upstairs, Draco cleared his throat. "Make that 4."

Although Pansy was as annoying as can be, she was indeed breathtaking. She had long raven black hair, brown eyes and legs that seemed to go on forever.

Grabbing his drinks, Draco followed her upstairs.

**Hermione**

"Thanks for talking with me, Luna," Hermione smiled gratefully. "And I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this."

"Of course," Luna replied in that dreamy voice of hers, "I swear it on my boggle bats."

"Luna," Hermione finally asked, "Who is that staring at you?" she motioned to a brown haired boy who began waving at Luna the second she looked over.

"Oh that's Scott. He's my boyfriend." Luna replied, waving back.

"LUNA! If you had a boyfriend waiting this whole time for you why didn't you say anything?" Hermione cried. "Go sit with him, I've monopolized so much of your time, oh I feel terrible. Go enjoy the rest of your evening with him!"

"Well thanks, Hermione." Luna beamed. "I do hope you feel better after your talk with Ron."

Hermione replied by telling her to go. As she sat alone at a table in Hogs Head, Hermione felt immensely grateful to Luna, who had so graciously listened to her babble about her mixed feelings for Ron (of course, leaving the part about Draco out of it) and give precious feedback without complaining even once about her boyfriend, who was waiting for her the whole time they chatted, which must have lasted at least three hours.

Hermione paid for her drink then decided to head back to Hogwarts and find Ron. It was time she did something to resolve this ongoing conflict within her, instead of letting it eat her alive.

The sun was just starting to set and it casted a beautiful red glow over the trees. Shivering from the breeze, Hermione crossed her arms across her chest and began to push through the crowd of people.

"Excuse me, pardon me sir," Hermione muttered as she walked, keeping her eyes focused on the ground to avoid the blinding sun as it was setting. Walking quickly, she turned a sharp corner and ran into someone, causing her to fall backwards.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Hermione exclaimed, dusting the dust off her pants.

"Great, now I've got to wash these."

Hermione looked up to see Blaise Zabini sneering down at her. "Aren't you supposed to be the smartest witch of our year?"

Hermione did not reply.

"You must not be that smart if you don't even know how to watch where you're going. I always knew that a mudblood could never be that smart." Blaise snarled before walking off.

Holding back the urge to punch him, Hermione simply held her head high as Blaise walked away and continued on her way back to Hogwarts. Were all Slytherin purebloods so cruel and demeaning? Hermione simply did not understand why. As she walked away, fuming, she did not even realize that there was someone walking beside her until she was standing outside the portrait of the Head's Wing and the person said the password and held the portrait open for her.

"Oh," Hermione said, after noticing who it was that was walking beside her the whole way back to Hogwarts. "I thought it was illegal or something for you purebloods to be seen with the likes of someone like me."

Draco followed Hermione into the Head's Wing and ignored her snide comment. "You seemed to have had a rough day. I wanted to see if you were ok."

Draco had successfully left Pansy, who was sound asleep after their rendezvous at the Three Broomsticks. Although Pansy was usually very good at relieving his mind of any stress, today, she could not relieve him of his concern for Hermione, who looked so terribly sad in the Great Hall. As he was walking back to school, he saw Hermione run into Blaise and after hearing Blaise's harsh words, his concern for her grew.

Surprised by those words, Hermione's heart warmed. "Why?" she asked as she turned around to face him.

"Like I said," Draco repeated, "you seemed to have had a rough day."

"But why do you care?"

"I don't" Draco lied. To be honest, Draco had never cared for anyone this much before. What scared Draco was that the person he cared about was a mudblood, the best friend of the person who was supposed to be his enemy, and probably hates him for everything he's done to her and her friends for the past six years. However, what scared Draco the most was that he had never cared about anyone this much before, especially someone he barely knew.

"Honestly, Malfoy, your moodswings are less than attractive."

"Are you ok?" Draco asked again, ignoring her comment.

Hermione glared at him. "This is exactly what I mean."

"Why won't you answer me?" Draco inquired.

"Why should I?"

"Common courtesy," Draco replied.

With each sentence, the space between Hermione and Draco became smaller and smaller.

"Why do you act like you care about me one minute then act like you hate me the next?" Hermione whispered. They were standing so close now that their shoes were touching.

"I don't hate you." Draco replied as his hand rose up to cup Hermione's face. "I never have." He could see every little freckle scattered across her nose. Her lips looked so soft and rosy; Draco could not fight the urge to kiss her.

"But-"Hermione protested as Draco's hand touched her face. Hermione's heart was pounding so loudly she was sure Draco could hear it. His hand was soft and warm as opposed to the coldness she was expecting. Her breathing became rapid and her eyes fluttered closed as Draco's forehead touched her.

"I never have."

"All those years you-"Hermione mumbled, feeling weak in the knees standing this closely to Draco. Stop it! Stop this immediately! Her conscious screamed, but Hermione ignored it. He is your enemy! You are still with Ron! You LOVE Ron!

However, those voices were shut out the moment Draco's lips crashed down on hers; soft yet strong, innocent yet passionate. Draco's other hand encircled her waist and pulled her closer, kissing her deeply.

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_Hope you all enjoyed! Leave something for me please :)_


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you guys so much for all the reviews! You guys make my day :) Once again, none of the characters are mine.  


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Hermione sighed against his lips; those wonderful, heavenly lips. She was not aware of where she was, holding solely on the fact that she was finally in his arms and kissing him. Hermione felt like she was on a rollercoaster- her head was spinning, her stomach churning with a mix of butterflies and the sensation of dropping quickly from a high point; she felt so blissful that she felt nauseous.

Suddenly the outside world was no longer there. There was only Hermione and Draco in her world; bodies tightly pushed against each other, breathing in each other's scent. Suddenly Hermione didn't care about Voldemort, the great war, Harry's opinion or even Ron. She knew that later on, there would be hell to pay for this kiss, but right now all she cared about was that the great war that was happening in her head for the past number of days was finally resolved. She had given in and it was the greatest, single most splendid surrender in history.

Draco held her tightly as she buried her head in his shoulder. He breathed in the smell of her hair and left a lingering kiss on her head. He couldn't believe that this was happening, that he was actually kissing Hermione Granger. It was the best, most dangerous feeling he had ever felt. He could only imagine what would happen if his father ever found out, but at the same time, he wanted to kiss Hermione until the sun no longer shined and the oceans were all dried up.

However, Draco's head began to pull itself out of the clouds and pushed him back into reality because of course, that would never happen. Of all the girls Draco had been with, flirted with and dumped, he never ever thought that he would flirt with, be with and have to dump Hermione, especially when only two of the three things happened. He had seen the guys in his House with their girlfriends, and he knew that he would and could never be like that with Hermione for various reasons. One being that he would never have the time, second being that she is a muggleborn who is best friends with Harry Potter, and third being that if his father ever found out, World War III wouldn't even begin to explain the explosion that would happen at home.

With those three thoughts floating around in his head, Draco painfully straightened up and pushed Hermione back to hold her at arm's length.

"I..I apologize. That was very unorthodox and presumptuous of me, I shouldn't have kissed you." Draco said firmly, staring into her confused eyes, his own heart weighing painfully in his chest for having to tell these lies.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione inquired, "I-I know this is very uncharacteristic of the both of us but presumptuous? What would make you think that I didn't want to kiss you?"

Draco dropped his arms and ran a hand through his hair, then covered his face in his hands. Sighing deeply, he muttered, "I apologize, this will never happen again."

Hermione watched speechless as Draco muttered those last few words then stalked up the stairs. Seconds later she heard the door upstairs slam shut.

The warmth she had felt earlier faded abruptly and was replaced with a wave of hurricane like panic. What has she done? How could she have been so utterly stupid? Numb to the bone, Hermione wrapped her arms around herself and sank into a nearby couch. She had risked everything in the heat of the moment. She cheated on Ron, thinking that Draco had wanted her, and now that she had a taste of him, she knew that she could never be truly happy with Ron again. Sooner or later, she would have to break up with Ron and then the Golden Trio would be no more. To avoid seeing Ron, she would also have to see less of Harry and Ginny. Furthermore, to salvage whatever was left of her pride and dignity, she would have to try to avoid Draco for at least a good couple of weeks. All the while, Draco had no interest in her.

"Oh, dear Merlin, what have I done?" Hermione whispered as tears of frustration and hurt seeped through her closed eyelids. Of course he had no interest in her. She was his slave for the rest of the year. This was probably just a way to satisfy his sick, twisted humour.

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Kicking the leg of his bed as hard as he could, Draco let out a grunt of anger. His eyes ablaze and his hands in a tight fist, Draco breathed noisily through his nose. How he hated the Malfoy name; he had never hated it more than this moment. Having to tell Hermione those lies, those filthy, filthy lies and watch as Hermione's face, which had been glowing only a moment earlier turn pale made Draco feel like he was less than scum.

Draco slid to the ground and sat with his back on the leg of his bed and his head in his hands. Still breathing heavily, Draco wondered if Hermione believed him. Chuckling at his own stupidity, Draco shook his head. Of course she did. He could tell from the look on her face. Besides, why wouldn't she believe him? After all, they only shared one kiss, even though it was a kiss that made all other kisses seem like the flame of a candle stick. But nevertheless, it was only a kiss. For a moment, Draco had deluded himself into thinking that what they shared was something more. Perhaps it was something more on Draco's behalf, but he had no way of knowing what it meant to Hermione. If he could, Draco would take back those lies and kiss her again and again. However, what's done was done, and not any amount of regret could change it, so Draco could only look forward from this point.

It would be better for Hermione anyways, if they both just put this ordeal behind them. So Draco decided that he would act like the kiss never happened.

* * *

Draco entered the Great Hall the next morning and the first thing he did was look over at the Griffindor table only to find that Hermione was not there. Draco knew that Hermione was trying to avoid him. He had heard her get up at 5:30 in the morning, shower and leave the Heads Dorm.

Draco dragged his tired body to the Slytherin table where Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and Blaise were waiting for him.

"Oh, Drakey! How was your night? Did you sleep well? Did that mudblood cause you any trouble?" Pansy showered him with questions the second he sat down, her high bubbly voice ringing through his ears. _I don't deserve this so early in the morning._ His head throbbed from the loud screeching of Pansy's voice.

"Fine." Draco replied coldly and grabbed some food.

Pansy looked hurt; her big brown eyes watered up and she began making choking sounds that resembled sobbing noises only by the fingernail.

Draco looked up from his food, disgusted. He wanted nothing more than to shut her up. People from the other houses were beginning to look over and Draco could hear some people snickering.

"Kind of makes you wish she had a mute button doesn't it?" Blaise asked, while finishing off his eggs. Draco nodded, grateful that somebody understood how he felt.

Draco looked down at his food and saw a few eyelashes scattered over his scrambled eggs and bacon. Draco put down his fork; he had officially lost his appetite. He prayed that this wasn't going to happen at every meal, or else he would sure lose a lot of weight.

"I wonder what Snape is going to do to humiliate the Griffindor's today!" Pansy giggled, "Maybe he will pick-"

"It doesn't matter what Snape does," Draco interrupted irritably, annoyed with the fact that he had to stop eating his breakfast. "They win the House Cup every year."

For the second time that morning, Pansy looked like she was going to break down in tears.

As Draco walked to Potions at the end of the day, he wondered where Hermione was. He was anxious about being in the same classroom as Hermione. Would she acknowledge him? Should he acknowledge her? A fine line had been crossed and now Draco did not know how to act anymore.

To his relief, he spotted Hermione's busy brown locks at the front of the classroom sitting by her lonesome self. Potty and Weasel where sitting three seats away from her.

* * *

Hermione could feel Draco's eyes on the back of her skull but she refused to give into the burning desire to look back. She had never felt lonelier than she did today. Ron was still angry with her; Harry of course, had to stay by Ron's side for he was the more ill-tempered one who needed a friend constantly, and she was too humiliated to even look at Draco.

"Well, well, well" Professor Snape drawled as he entered the classroom and walked past Hermione. "Sitting alone today, are we?"

"Yes." Hermione whispered with a defiant glare at the professor.

"Hmm," Professor Snape smirked. "Today's class is about a very special potion. It soothes the nerves of the person who consumes it, especially after a shock, trauma or emotional turmoil such as writing their OWLs or NEWTs, can anyone tell me what it is?"

"Calming draught, Professor."

Snape's eyes slithered to Hermione. "Ten points from Griffindor for speaking without raising a hand. Can anyone tell me what the main ingredient is?"

Hermione glanced around the room to see the only other hand raised beside hers was Draco.

"Yes?" Snape called out to the back of the room.

"Peppermint."

Hermione heart ached at the sound of his silky smooth voice. Had she no defense against him?

The remainder of the class went by smoothly. Snape restrained from adding to Hermione's misery. As she was putting away her ingredients, a hand reached over and grabbed her cauldron. Hermione's heart almost stopped, thinking it was Draco, only to find it was Harry.

Hermione managed a small, but grateful smile. "Thanks, Harry."

Harry gave her arm a squeeze in return. "I'm committing high treason for being around you like this, you know."

"He's still angry with me?"

"Yeah," Harry mumbled. "Why can't you go talk to him, I'm sure that if you would just-"

"It's more complicated than that."

"Yes, I understand but-"

"I just-" Hermione took a quick look around to make sure that no one was listening and nobody was, everybody was busy cleaning out their cauldron or getting their books together. In a hushed voice, Hermione continued. "You can't tell Ron this. You've got to promise me that."

"Hermione, Ron's my friend you can't expect me to keep something important from him."

"But I'm your friend too, Harry. You haven't asked me once how I was; you've been so busy catering to Ron. All I'm asking you to do is to honour our friendship."

Feeling trapped and guilt-ridden, Harry nodded.

"I don't know how I feel about Ron anymore." Hermione whispered. "I just- I don't know if he's right for me and I don't know if I'm the best for him. It's our last year here, there's so much stress I don't know if I would be a good girlfriend... Oh don't look at me like that Harry, it's not like you haven't had your fair share of ladies."

"To be honest," Harry said quietly while handing Hermione her books, "I've been expecting this for quite a while now."

Hermione smiled. "How is Ron lately? I do worry about him he can be such a chil-oof!"

Hermione spun around to face the person who had pushed past her so roughly.

"Oops, guess I didn't see you there, although you're kind've hard to miss with all that hair!" Pansy burst into a fit of giggles. Behind her stood Malfoy with one hand in his pocket and the other loosening his tie.

"You should get that," Draco said, his face emotionless, gesturing a hand towards the spilt books on the floor.

Hermione's face turned red. Of course, this was such typical Malfoy behaviour. She must have been crazy to have ever wanted to kiss this git, but still, she couldn't repress that feeling of longing. As Hermione bent down to gather the books and shove them into Pansy's arms, she saw Malfoy out of the corner of her eyes and she could swear he looked terribly burdened.

"You should learn to be more careful." Said Draco as he turned to leave, his eyes as cold as ice. "People don't appreciate people like you touching their stuff."

Hermione stood with her mouth open. She could hardly believe he had just said those things, yet at the same time she had fully expected them. Grabbing her bookbag, she muttered a goodbye to Harry and ran out of the dungeon.

Hermione fought to keep her tears at bay as she ran through the hallways clustered with people. When she finally reached an empty hallway she flung her bookbag to the floor and wept with her head in her arms, which were wrapped around her legs. Why was this happening to her? All she wanted was to graduate and win the Student of the Year award, she did nothing to deserve this.

_No, I'm stronger than this. I'll not give into his bullying. I've suffered through his taunts and insults for 6 years already, what's one more year?_ Hermione angrily wiped away the rest of her tears.

"Ms. Granger? Are you alright?"

Hermione looked towards the sound of the voice to see Professor McGonagall standing at the end of the hallway, wearing a look of concern on her face.

"Yes, Professor." Hermione stood, "Stress." She muttered as an explanation to her closeted meltdown.

"Very well then," replied Professor McGonagall with a look of unbelieving on her face. "I have a task for you, please come with me."

Hermione followed Professor McGonagall through numerous hallways until they finally reached her office. Inside, she saw that Malfoy was already there, sprawled out on the chair with his tie undone,shirt un-tucked and looking very annoyed.

"Please, sit. Now, this is a very important task I am about to entrust upon the two of you. Every year, Hogwarts holds a Christmas ball-given that that's not always its name. I know it's still early but such a big event requires a lot of time. By next month, I would like the theme of this year's ball, please. Do either of you have any questions?"

Draco sighed. "No, can I go?"

Professor McGonagall shot him a look of reprimand and turned to Hermione.

"Will we be getting help?"

"Yes, it's tradition that the Prefects help out with the planning. We also have a very dedicated committee of students who also help out every year. However, it is always the Head Boy and Girl who chooses the theme of the ball, since it is their last year. Anything else?"

"No, Professor, thank you."

* * *

"I guess we should start brainstorming soon." Hermione said quietly once she and Draco were back in their Heads Dorm. "Professor McGonagall said it'll take a lot of time and-"

"I know what she said I was there." Draco interrupted without even looking at her. "It's just a stupid ball. Pick a theme and be done with it, I'm going to bed I'm tired."

Once again, Hermione stood speechless as she watched Draco walk away from her. She had been silly to think that that kiss ever meant anything to him.

* * *

I know it was a short lived romance but it will blossom later on I assure you. Hopefully this was entertaining enough to keep you all! Please leave me a review, thanks dears!!


	7. Chapter 7

Once again, this is a late update! Haha it's currently 2:54 on my end of the world! Someone said that I should call this story A Dragon's Slave and I just want to point out that I actually had a story called A Dragon's Lady which was my very first story.. however school caught up with me and I eventually stopped writing it.. I did use it as an inspiration for this story though. Well anyways, hope you guys enjoy the chapter! There will be a lot of action coming up in the next few chapters:) so Read and Review.

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Hermione was lying on her queen size canopy bed (one of the many privileges of being Head Girl) cuddling with a stuffed squirrel, a favourite toy from her childhood. A piece of parchment with many scribbles sat beside her.

The weekend proved to be as uneventful as she had anticipated, seeing as how Ron was still not speaking to her and Draco was less than interested in coming up with a theme to the Christmas Ball. In fact, Hermione hadn't heard or seen him all weekend. She sighed- seems like his efforts to avoid her was really paying off.

The brilliant sun was peeking through her closed curtains and after a few more minutes of lying down and feeling sorry for herself, Hermione grabbed a sweater from her closet and rushed out the portrait hole. Who did Ron think he was? Why should she bend over backwards to stay out of his way? Harry and Ginny were her best friends too, why shouldn't she be able to talk to them?

The afternoon sun was still shining brightly across the sky when Hermione reached the Quidditch field. On such a nice day Hermione was sure that Ron, Harry and Ginny would be practicing Quidditch, and true to her word, there they were-soaring high up in the sky. Ron was floating in front of the goal posts and Ginny and Harry were taking turns throwing the Quaffle so Ron could practice in hopes that his confidence would rise and wouldn't be so nervous at the actual matches.

Across the field Hermione spotted Neville, Luna and Scott, her boyfriend sitting on the bleachers. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were still too high up and too absorbed in their practice to notice her so she walked over and took a seat beside Neville.

"Hi, Hermione," Neville smiled as she sat down. 'How've you been? I haven't seen you around the Common Room much these days."

Hermione smiled apologetically.

"I know, I've just been so busy with, um...Head..Girl..." Hermione trailed off as she was having difficulty finishing her sentence. She just noticed a big green plant sitting on Scott's head with its vines wrapped around his eyes. Scott, who was obviously not fond of the vine, was trying to claw it off his head and eyes only to have the vine slap his hands away.

"OW! LUNDA! You said it was HARMLESS!" He cried as he stumbled onto his feet, now trying even harder to get the vine off his head in vain.

"It _is_ harmless," Luna insisted. "But you can't abuse it like that. You have to speak to her nicely."

"Her?! I'm not speaking to a vine _nicely_, especially one that's trying to KILL me!" Scott roared.

It was extremely hard not to stare at the coupe.

Neville leaned over. "Ron didn't want someone from another House watching them practice but Luna really wanted Scott to hang out with us so she brought this plant-I forget the name and put it on his head to block his eyes so he wouldn't be able to see the practice."

Neville shook his head in disbelief. "Poor lad..."

Hermione laughed, not only at the silly argument Luna and her boyfriend were having, but also at how nice it was to be out with her friends and feel the sun on her skin.

Hermione was enjoying the sun so much that she didn't even notice Harry, Ginny and Ron until Ginny ran up and flung her arms around Hermione.

"It's so nice to see you out and about Hermione!" Ginny grinned from ear to ear.

"Thanks, Ginny.." Hermione replied feeling a little confused. Why wouldn't she be out and about? But thinking again, maybe she has been a bit of a hermit lately.

Harry also gave her a big grin as he wrapped his arms around Ginny and planted a kiss on the side of her head.

Ron, who was standing behind the couple glanced up at Hermione and offered a small, hesitant smile.

"What?" Hermione questioned teasingly. "Lost your voice?"

"No," Ron mumbled in reply, the tip of his ears turning red. "Actually I'm glad you're here."

Hermione looked at him in surprise.

"I want to talk to you about something. I was going to go to find you after dinner...but since you're here now..." Ron trailed off.

"Um..sure.." Hermione glanced over at Harry and Ginny as she stood to follow Ron. However, they both shrugged, indicating they had no idea what this was about.

Ron led her past the bleachers and behind the trees outlining the Quidditch field so that they would be out of sight and sat her down on the ground. Wringing his hands nervously, Ron was turning redder by the minute.

Hermione sat patiently, waiting for Ron to speak. She knew very well that when he had something important to say, he would pace around for awhile to gather his thoughts before he would finally say anything.

However, watching Rona s he nervously tugged at his clothes and scratched his head was beginning to make Hermione's nerves edgy as well.

Finally, Ron sat down beside Hermione and took one of her hands in both of his. After a minute, he decided it was not such a good idea and placed Hermione's hand back on her lap gingerly.

_What could be making him so nervous?_ Hermione was dumbfounded. _What on earth was he planning to do? He wasn't going to....propose, was he? He couldn't! Things have not been going well for awhile now, he would have to be delusional to be proposing._ _But...Ron did have a habit of trying to change things for the better by going to the extreme._ The thought swam around in her head as she stared as Ron, praying that he wasn't going to propose.

Ron let out a noisy breath and stuck his hands in his pant pockets.

"There's no easy way to say this, Hermione, so I'm just going to come out and say it."

Hermione nodded, gulping back the uneasiness in her.

"I don't think this is going to work anymore..." Ron said quietly.

Hermione let out a breath of relief. She couldn't believe her ears, or her luck. Ron, interpreting her reaction as hurt and shock quickly reached for her hand again.

"I really do care for you!" Ron exclaimed. "But I just can't see this going any further-please," Ron pleaded. "Don't hate me, although you have every right to."

Hermione laughed quietly at her stupidity earlier. "It's O.K. Ron; I think we are better off as friends too. I'm just glad we're not fighting anymore. "

Ron smiled brightly. "I'm glad too! I didn't know how you were going to take it especially since Malfoy condemned you to hell this year I thought you would think that I was betraying you."

At the mention of Draco's name, Hermione's face fell. For a sliver of a minute Hermione was happily thinking that she and Draco could be together now, only suddenly to be reminded that he only wanted her to do his chores.

Ron stood and wiped his hands on his pants. "Well come on, now" he held out his hand to help her up, his voice bringing her back from her thoughts. "They'll be wondering what we're doing.. if we don't get back soon Ginny might send out a search squad.. I don't know what's with her lately.. she's gotten really nosy.."

The rest of the afternoon passed very quickly now that Hermione was back on good terms with her friends. They spent their time chasing each other on their broomsticks and even Hermione joined in, despite the fact that she hated flying. Broom tag- Hermione called it.

After they had exhausted themselves flying, they headed into the Great Hall for some dinner. As they entered, Hermione glanced around quickly, scanning the Hall but she still saw no trace of Draco. Where could he have gone for an entire weekend?

Hermione took a sip of her pumpkin juice and pushed her last thoughts of him out of her mind and turned her attention back to the lively conversation at the table.

"-go to Tric-"

"or the Palimo, I heard its really-"

"Do we have to? I hate loud music and drunks." Ron whined.

"What are we talking about?" Hermione whispered to Harry.

"Ginny and Luna want to go to a club tonight, only they can't decide which."

"A club? Like a muggle club with dancing, a bar, and no magic?" Hermione shook her head in surprise; the magic world was really trying to incorporate muggle things into people's everyday lives.

"Not quite," Harry replied. "It is the same general idea, but still with some magic, I'm not sure what though."

Hermione smiled in amazement.

"Well it's decided then!" Ginny exclaimed cheerfully. "Tric it is! Ooooh I'm so excited! I heard it's really nice in there..no sluts."

Ron grumbled unhappily, "hate drunken.." but he was drowned out by the increase of noise in the Great Hall as more students filed in to fill their stomachs.

However, there was still no sign of Draco.

Hermione mentally reprimanded herself for allowing her thoughts to flow towards him again, but couldn't help but wonder where he might be.

"I don't really have anything to wear," Hermione whispered quietly to Ginny as they stood up to leave.

Ginny grinned and hooked her arm through Hermione's. "That's ok! I'll lend you something." As the rest of the gang reached the Fat Lady, Ginny turned to Luna. "Would you like to get ready with us, Luna?"

Luna, who was running her fingers through her hair, smiled her dreamy smile and shook her head. "No thank you, I have some things to do first. I'll meet you all in the Great Hall at 9?"

'Ok."

"Alright."

"We'll see you, Luna!" Hermione called as she, Ginny, Ron and Harry crawled through the Portrait hole.

Ron threw himself at the nearest couch. "A game of chess, Harry?" Nodding, Harry brought over a chess board and the two of them began their game as Ginny began dragging Hermione towards the Girls' Dorm.

"Where are you guys running off to?" Harry called after them, and Ginny shouted back.

"Getting ready!"

"But it's only seven! That's mental. " Ron replied, but Hermione and Ginny ignored him and rushed up the staircase, excitement filling their bodies.

"Ok, I've got a number of dresses that Fred and George bought me. They've been spoiling me like crazy since their joke-shop business has been booming. "

Ginny threw open her trunk and pulled out four dresses.

"Now, I've got dibs on this green one," Ginny laughed. "But take your pick from the other three.. I personally think that this red one would look gorgeous on you."

"Wow.. Gin, these dresses are beautiful." Hermione replied, running a hand over each dress. Ginny beamed, so rarely did she ever have something someone else coveted.

There was a pink strapless dress with a tight bodice with a full, ballerina skirt made of tulle that looked like it ended a few inches above the knee. Beside it laid a sapphire blue dress with two thick straps and was see through around the mid-section. The rest of the skirt was made out of a material that shimmered in the light, but was still that same sapphire blue color, making the dress look like 3 different pieces. The last dress was the most simple, but it was the one that caught Hermione's attention.

It was a startling ruby red one strap dress that was absolutely skin tight. There was nothing fancy about it, but it was the simplicity of it that was so alluring.

Ginny, who was watching Hermione, picked up the dress and tossed it at her. "I knew you'd like it! Come on.. we don't have that much time left."

The girls quickly changed into their dresses and started on their hair, which took up a considerable amount of Hermione's time. By the time she moved onto her makeup, Ginny was already finished hers and was moving to help Hermione.

Hermione grimaced. She thought that with magic and all, getting ready would be a breeze, but it turned out to be just as difficult as not using magic. After the considerable amount of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion Hermione used at the Yule Ball, she also had a considerable amount of trouble washing it out of her hair that evening. Thus this time around, she decided against it and tried using a few different spells, until one finally made her hair as smooth and sleek as the hair potion had, except this time, her hair was stick straight.

As Ginny was helping Hermione do her makeup, she casually smiled and asked Hermione what Ron had talked to her about earlier. After Hermione's recap, Ginny laughed.

"Well I always did think that you could do better," she winked. "As long as you're O.K. with it."

"Or course," Hermione replied. "It was fun while it lasted."

After some last minute primping, Hermione gasped, seeing the old fashioned clock sitting on Ginny's night table.

"Ginny, it's almost half past nine!"

Grabbing two pairs of shoes from under her bed, Ginny tossed a pair at Hermione who jinxed them to fit her feet and the pair rushed downstairs where Ron and Harry stood waiting impatiently.

Both boys were dressed in muggle clothing. Harry was wearing black jeans with a blue dress shirt un-tucked with the sleeves rolled up, and Ron was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a black dress shirt (that was lent to him by Harry) with the top few buttons unbuttoned.

As Harry laid eyes upon Ginny, his face went slightly pink and let out a shaky breath. Ginny looked absolutely stunning. She was wearing a sequenced dress with different shades of green. The lighter pastel green was at the top and it turned darker as it reached the bottom of the dress, which was a deep forest green. She had her hair in a loose pony tail at the nape of her neck with loose tendrils around her face.

Hermione stood awkwardly beside Ginny in her red dress, black heels and straight hair and almost fell over when Ginny nudged her side and giggled.

"Look at Ron.. I bet he sorely regrets breaking up with you now."

Ron was ogling at Hermione like he had never seen her before; the tips of his ears as red as his hair.

"Well," Harry cleared his throat. "We should get going, Luna and Scott are probably wondering what happened to us."

* * *

"There you guys are!" Luna smiled when she spotted Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione entering the Great Hall.

"You look pretty, Luna." Hermione said in greeting. Luna was wearing a sky blue dress with white shoes and her long blonde hair was in loose curls; she looked like an imprint of a fairy. Scott stood at her side wearing a white dress polo and blue jeans, still looking slightly bitter about the plant incident earlier on.

"Well, shall we get going?" Ginny asked, unable to conceal the excitement in her voice.

The group had to first take a hidden tunnel found on Harry's Maurader's map then from there, apparate to the outside of Tric.

When they arrived, the club was already bouncing with music and laughter. As they entered, Hermione automatically noticed the difference between this club and the muggle clubs. There were no speakers, no wires, and no DJ. The music was coming from the enchanted disco balls and lights floating close to the ceiling. There was a mist floating over the dance floor but no machine. There were two bars, one at each end of the club with leather couches and tables beside them.

Having only been to a muggle club once, Hermione thought that Tric looked much classier and much less clustered.

"Let's get some drinks!" Ginny shouted over the music, motioning to the bar.

Within minutes, Ginny was pumped full of firewhiskey and dragged Harry onto the dance floor. Ron, sat at the end of the bar, trying to converse with Scott and Luna, who were both growing steadily more drunk by the minute.

Hermione swallowed her firewhiskey and gently swung her hips to the music, her eyes grazing the dance floor. She desperately hoped that someone would ask her to dance; she hated standing here by herself.

"Hey there."

Hermione turned towards the voice, shocked to see who it belonged to: Blaise Zabini.

"Hi." Hermione muttered in reply, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Care for a drink?" He asked, motioning to her empty shot, clearly still having no idea who she was.

"No, thank you." Hermione replied curtly, which seemed to annoy the guy.

"Hey, what's your problem-" Blaise said, feeling slightly pissed off, glaring at Hermione. A look of shocking recognition fluttered across his face but was very quickly replaced with a sly smile.

"Granger.." He drawled in a manner very similar to Draco. "You're looking..." he eyes flickered up and down her body. "Stunning tonight, for a change. Fancy me for a dance?"

"Not really," Hermione scowled, feeling annoyed with his persistence. _I know I hoped for someone to ask me to dance.. but I didn't mean Blaise Zabini..._

"Oh... c'mon now.. it's just a dance, no harm-"

Hermione was just about to open her mouth to tell him to piss off when--

"Blaise!"A shrill voice cried out. Within seconds, a grumpy looking Pansy Parkinson appeared at his side. She eyed Hermione suspiciously and turned to Blaise.

"Who are you talking to?" She demanded.

Blaise smirked. "Granger."

Pansy's jaw dropped open. She looked at Hermione again and moved her mouth like she was trying to say something but then snapped her mouth closed and grabbed Blaise by the arm onto the dance floor, away from Hermione.

"Save me a dance!" Blaise called, making inappropriate hand gestures at her.

Hermione shuddered involuntarily. She did not want to stay another second in this club lest Blaise finds his way to her again and tries to make a move on her.

She motioned to Ron that she was leaving, and waved goodbye to Harry, Ginny, Scott and Luna and swiftly walked out the entrance of Tric, instantly apparating to Hogsmead and tunnelling back to the Great Hall.

Hermione slipped off her heels and ran back to the Head's Dorm. She really wasn't the clubbing type of girl. She didn't enjoy it in a muggle club and she certainly did not enjoy it any more at a magic club.

Hermione stumbled into the room, threw her shoes aside and flopped down on the closest couch, feeling the full effect of all those firewhiskeys.

She was just floating off into a deep sleep when she heard a loud crash coming from upstairs that jolted her awake. Patting the side of her face to keep her awake, and alert, Hermione tiptoed up the stairs, into her room and grabbed her wand.

There were only three rooms up here. Hers, Draco's and the bathroom.

Hermione inched towards the bathroom with her wand raised at the ready when a second crash was heard coming from Draco's room.

Feeling extremely anxious, Hermione turned towards Draco's room and called out to him but heard nothing. The door was slightly open and Hermione pushed it open further with her foot and took a cautious step into his room.

"Lumos" Hermione whispered as she entered, ready to defend herself against any attack.

However, as Hermione advanced into the room and the light from her wand filled the majority of the room, the blood drained out of her face and she dropped her wand, rushing to over to Draco, who was lying on his side on the floor beside his bed, his hands clutching his sheets tightly.

He was shaking terribly and covered in sweat, blood, bruises and cuts. He was so pale that he looked green. With a trembling hand, Hermione reached over and rolled Draco over so he was lying on his back. As she did so, she brought her hand up to her mouth to muffle the scream that almost escaped her throat.

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So leave me a reviews, some feedback! 333


	8. Chapter 8

I am a very, very,very terrible person. I left all my wonderful readers with a killer cliffhanger and then did not update for weeks =( I apologize. No excuses, I'm just notorious for procrastinating! So, once again, really sorry, but I hope this chapter makes up for it!!! Oh and thank you so much for your wonderful reviews!! I love you alll.

Nothing here is mine.

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"Oh my god, oh Merlin, Draco!" Hermione cried out, staring into his half open eyes and colorless face. She wanted to reach out and hold him, to console him and tell him everything would be ok but he looked so battered everywhere that she didn't know where to put her hands.

"Help me up..." Draco muttered as he closed his eyes and held out a hand for Hermione, which she attentively clutched and hoisted him up, placing her other hand gently on his lower back to help him keep his balance which elected a painful moan from Draco.

"I'm ok," he groaned as he sat against propped pillows on the bed, one hand rising to grab the side of his head. "My head is driving me crazy..."

"Wait here, I have a book I-I got it from my parents as a congratulatory gift for becoming Head Girl I thought it was a great gift since Harry always gets hurt-well never mind," Hermione stammered, confused at why she was going into such a detailed story about a book while Draco lay battered on the bed. "It contains spells that heals wounds, both ones inflicted by magic and non-magical objects, I'm going to go fetch it. Just wait here, don't move." What was the matter with her? Of course he wasn't going to move.. he couldn't!

Forcing herself to rip her eyes away from Draco, Hermione rushed out of his room and burst into her own just the across the hall. She threw herself at the chest at the end of her bed and flung it open.

"Where is it.. come on now," Hermione muttered as she pulled out her Ancient Runes and Herbology textbooks and threw them aside.

"Aha..!" Her eyes lit up as her hands reached down and grabbed 1001 Remedies of the Body.

In the short amount of time it took for Hermione to leave the room, get the book and return, Hermione found that Draco had drifted into a light sleep.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Hermione tenderly moped away the beads of sweat on his forehead and began to flip through the book. She had never tried any of these spells before and did not know if they would be painful or not and thus decided maybe it would be for the better if Draco remained asleep while she did this.

_I should start off with something small..cuts would be a good place to start..or perhaps bruises._ Satisfied that there was a spell in the book for bruises, Hermione mumbled the spell twice to herself quietly before performing it on Draco.

Hermione bit her lip and winced a little, partly from being scared that the spell wouldn't work properly and partly from being scared it would hurt Draco even more and wake him up.

However, her worry proved to be futile as the angry bruise on his arm faded into creamy white and Draco remained soundly asleep. Feeling relieved, Hermione tucked her wand under her chin, unbuttoned Draco's shirt and carefully slipped his arms out of the sleeves.

After finishing with the bruises, Hermione moved onto cuts and gashes, and as she continued, she became beyond pleased at how well these spells were working.

When both of Draco's arms finally returned to normal, Hermione silently congratulated herself and moved onto his chest which looked like a battle field comprised of bruises, cuts, gashes, what looked like burns, and scars.

Hermione bit back her tears at the thought of Draco being hurt like this before and pressed her fingers to her lips then touched an old, ragged scar that ran across his lower abdomen. She inhaled deeply and began to fix up Draco's torso; the bruises, cuts, scars and gashes were simple enough, but it was the burns that really made Hermione nervous.

The spell was complicated and required very specific wandwork which left even the smartest witch in Hogwarts a little shaky. However, after a few encouraging words, Hermione put her faith to the test and yielded optimum results.

Happy with her success, Hermione proceeded to the fix the rest of the burns but stopped when she saw that one burn on his lower abdomen extended under the band of his boxers. Hermione bit her lip, it seemed to be crossing the line to reach under his boxers, but this was a dire situation and it wasn't like the burn could reach any further than a few centimetres below the band anyways.

After reassuring herself a couple of times that this was strictly professional, Hermione reached down to gently push Draco's boxers a little lower. However, as soon as the burn was completely visible and Hermione was ready to perform the spell, a clammy hand grabbed her wrist and Draco's groggy voice croaked out, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I-I-I'm healing your wounds.. one of your, um, burns, it, er-" Hermione stammered, unable to talk normally, as if she were a child caught in the act of stealing.

"Oh," Draco sighed and released his iron grip on her hand. "Sorry, here," he muttered and roughly pushed the band of his boxers down even lower, unaware that Hermione had already done that. "O.K.?"

Still unable to speak, Hermione simply nodded, grabbed her wand and quickly murmured the incantation.

"I've finished the front of your torso, so just turn around and I'll do what I can for your back."

Draco hoisted himself up to his elbows and looked down at his chest. It was only then that he realized Hermione had unbuttoned his shirt, and that his previously scarred and battered torso was once again, looking brand-new.

Hermione must have also noticed, as she quickly told him to turn over and remove the rest of the shirt so that she could hide her blushing cheeks from his sight.

"For someone so badly beaten you sure recover fast." Hermione said, with a small smile on her lip.

"Hmm?"

"Your grip, Draco, and the fact that you're awake are simply astounding."

Draco stayed quiet for a moment, and then replied, "It's not the first time, Hermione. I've grown used to it. I had to suck it up..man up. If I fell apart like a doll every time my father-" Realizing that he said something he shouldn't have, Draco quickly sat himself upright to face Hermione, whose face was a painting of shock.

"Your...father?" Hermione whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "Your father did this to you?!"

"I-I didn't mean to say anything, Hermione, please, just forget it."

"How can your father do this to you?" Hermione cried out, "No matter how heartless or cruel he is, you are his SON! How, how could he hurt his own flesh and blood?!" With each word, her voice got louder, more desperate, more shrill. "I don't understand! What could you have done that was so terrible that he had to resort to this kind of disgusting, spiteful, pure evil behaviour! How long, Draco? How long has he been doing this, why haven't you told anybody? Surely someone could—"

"Hermione, Hermione," Draco said her name soothingly, reaching for her wildly gesturing hands and collecting them in his own.

"Nobody can do anything, my father has connections everywhere. He's a very powerful man, more powerful than people think. There's no one I can trust. You are the only one who knows about this besides my mother, Hermione. "He stared pleadingly into her frenzied brown eyes. "You cannot tell a soul. If word gets out to him that I've told someone, especially you, of what he's been doing to me it could mean big trouble. Not just for me, but for you too."

"You can trust me, I promise, I just can't believe that he would.. I mean I always knew that he was evil but even then.."

"Shh," Draco pressed a finger to her lip. "Thank you for finding me, and healing me."

"You're welcome; I finished your back too.. just before you turned around. Are you sure you don't want to see Madame Pomfrey too? I'm sure she could do more."

"I've got some spells of my own that will help heal up whatever is remaining. You've done more than enough for me."

"Oh, Draco..I had no idea of what you were going through.." Hermione muttered as his finger moved to trace her chin and cup the side of her face. Her hands had found their way to his hair and neck. "I feel so terrible, I wish there was something more I could do."

"Stay the night with me, then." Draco whispered, his eyes pleading. "Please?"

Hermione's heart began to race and skip a beat. Standing here in this position, she could once again see how built Draco was, and how chiselled his muscles were..how flawless his skin was.

"I hate being alone after these things, it helps to have someone close. We can talk all night, nothing more, I give my word." Draco scooted over on the bed to make room for Hermione, and held out his hand to her, hoping with all his heart and she would take it.

"Of course," She whispered with a smile and took his hand and helped herself onto the bed next to Draco.

Hermione's heart was racing at a speed she didn't think was humanly possible. They laid side by side with their arms grazing each other, and ever so slowly, Draco's hand moved to hold Hermione's.

They laid there in silence for a few minutes, neither of them was sure of what to say. Hermione's mind was so clouded with happiness that she couldn't unscramble her thoughts quickly enough. By the time she had the end of a sentence figured out, the beginning was scrambled yet again.

Draco laid so still beside her that she wasn't sure if he was still awake.

"I'm sorry, by the way, for how I acted after I kissed you the other day."

"Why did you do that?"

Draco sighed. "I guess I was afraid of what he would think, and do to me. Me and you, because if we were ever a couple, he wouldn't just want to hurt me, he would want to get you too." He squeezed her hand. "I was trying to do the right thing, and end it before it had a chance to blossom...that way you would be safe...But I just find myself thinking about you constantly. You're always on my mind, you and that kiss. I can't fight it anymore, I can't fight YOU anymore."

Upon hearing those words come from his lips, Hermione turned her head to face him and found herself to be greeted with his face facing her as well.

"I don't care, Draco, what anyone thinks, or threatens to do to me" Hermione whispered. Her desire to be with him was so overwhelming that she could think of nothing else. If Lucius came after her, she would fight him. If Harry and Ron got mad at her, she would convince them to give Draco a chance. Hearing that he felt the same way she did, that he had feelings for her too and felt something in that kiss gave Hermione all the courage in the world to fight off anything that could come between them so she could have the chance to hold him in her arms and tell the world that he was hers.

"Are you sure? It's going to be dangerous."

"I've never been so sure of anything in my life." Hermione replied, and the second the words left her mouth Draco's lips came crashing down. Warm, sweet, soft, loving lips enveloped her own and Hermione buried her hands in his hair as they kissed passionately. When they finally broke away, Draco kissed her forehead and tugged her closer to him so he could wrap his arms tightly around her.

Hermione couldn't help but smile as she snuggled her head in the nook of his shoulder. With her body pressed tightly against his, she began to drift off to sleep.

Draco closed his eyes and pressed his lips to her hair as he felt her breathing stabilize.

"I'm never letting you go, Hermione."

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed that =) Please leave me something nice.. and I hope I haven't lost all of you!


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